Alertness

What this topic tests

Alertness is about what you notice and when. Almost every question here comes down to the same thing: looking early enough, and in the right place, to still have a choice about what you do next. There is very little to memorise — the questions reward a habit rather than a fact.

• Mirrors before anything: before slowing, before signalling, before moving off and before every change of direction.
• Blind spots. Mirrors do not show everything, which is why a shoulder check exists and why windscreen pillars hide exactly the road users you can least afford to miss.
• Distraction. Phones, sat navs and anything hanging from the mirror — the questions treat all of them as the same problem.
• Restricted views at junctions: edge out slowly until you can see, rather than guessing from where you are.

The mark people lose: Choosing an answer that is good driving but not what the question asked. Checking road markings before a U-turn is sensible; it still is not the check that tells you the road behind is clear.